#edelka

[wtrmln-tourma]

the one between / the mirrored one

there was one deity who was codified as presiding over all liminalities, all in-betweens. her name was raaminul.

she was a psychopomp, a goddess of dusk and dawn, of seasonal changes

but her domains were so loosely defined and blurry even within their definitions that she herself was blurry and incomplete. it didn't go well.

she tried very hard to maintain her duties, go to her festivals, and assist her followers. but one festival, she just.. snapped. broke. the effort to hold her form together was too much for her, so she reverted.

those who saw her primordial form, including two of her anchors, didn’t survive. the rest of the people there, if they did survive, carried the agony with them. the area as a whole turned to stone

her third anchor, edelka, had already passed on and was waiting in Rasta when she returned. they tried hard to keep her tethered, to help her hold on, but deep down they knew that they had made her wrong and it was causing her pain. knowing that releasing their own soul would break off raaminul’s lucidity, they let go. at least she won’t be awake for the rest of it.

for decades, nobody spoke her name. it would rouse her too close to waking. nobody had the heart to do that to her. but Ciros and Ader knew she was still out there, in the unsettled parts of Rasta, stuck in eternal nightmares. she was still incomplete.

so people realized. they could anchor her again. it would take years of work, to re-make her. but they started. raaminul became the mirrored one. her domains became reflections, mirrors, medicine, healing. it was the descendants of the anchors that were the most dedicated to this.

in addition to her intended domains, she retained influence over gateways, and gained associations of hope and second chances

eventually, once gods and people alike were sure this time would go right, she was anchored again. her anchors worked closely with her, walking through the equivalent of physical therapy. re-teaching her how to be a god, how to take a human form, how to bless.

and once she was sure of herself, she had her first festival.

extra prose bits

thinking about her devotees, prior to the second anchoring ritual, working so hard to rewrite the story telling everyone they meet "no, you mustn't pity her. we've already failed her once. now, now we must have hope for her. hope is what will heal her. hope and effort, and we are handling the effort, so you must help us by hoping."

and "did you hear about her? she's changing her domain. she works with reflections and with medicine. every time you look in the mirror, think of her. every time you bandage a wound, think of her. heal your burns and think of her, and as you heal, so too will she."

thinking about her first appearance in the physical plane after she's re-anchored. how her anchors walk her through every step. how her devotees wait silently, nearly going to catch her when she stumbles a little. how she takes a breath and weaves a glimmering silk tapestry, mirroring the crowd back at themselves. how she opens her eyes and looks back to see herself. how everyone, everyone lets out a quiet sob, that becomes all the louder from the number of those beginning to weep in relief. she is here, she is here and she is whole, and she still has work to do, and you must still work with her, but she is more alive than anyone has seen in centuries

thinking especially about how she feels when she takes form

how shaky she is, and things still aching from when she was first made wrong. how deeply grateful she is to the generations that put in the work to save her. her looking out and seeing just how many people came to see her and support her. feeling the overwhelming love and hope from hundreds of vastly different beings just, wash over her all at once. it renews her so quickly she stumbles

i think her anchors the second time around would all be people who have hurt for a long time in their own ways. trauma survivors, those with depression, or chronic illness.

not just because they know how it feels and want to help pull her out of that,

but because they are adjusted to it. they experienced it all, and they feel prepared to take on that little bit more to heal this god